Normally I would say Limoncello-Cupcakes are something for the summer: so fresh and lemony. But if you get a bottle of Limoncello as a gift (thanks again, Max!), they fit also in November. And remind you of summer: so fresh and lemony.

Beat the butter and sugar until white and light, then stir in the eggs one at a time . Add the Limoncello. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt, then fold it in. Bake in prepared muffin tins in the preheated oven at 175°C for 15- 20 minutes.

Schmand-Limoncello-Frosting

150 gr butter, at room temperature

4 tsp lemon sugar

40 gr confectioner's sugar

2 tbsp Limoncello

300 gr Schmand= sour cream with 24% fat (semi-solid)

Beat the butter and sugar until foamy, then add the Limoncello and the Schmand and stir them in thoroughly. Cool about an hour in the fridge. With an ice-cream scoop place hemispheres on the cupcakes and decorate with sprinkles.

Due to the Schokotorte (there are 3 egg whites left), I want to write down what you can do with leftovers from eggs. I am really getting angry when I see people throwing away e.g. egg whites on TV. Of course this list is not complete, I appreciate your possibilities of use!

Do you know that feeling? You remember something you ate when you were young - and you want to eat it right now. This happened, when I remembered the ladyfingers our bakery in the neighborhood made. They were delicious. Unfortunately the baker went in retirement already, so I couldn't buy some. So I decided to bake them myself.

Separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites until stiff, then add one third of the sugar and beat until the meringue is glossy. Beat the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until they are white and light, then add the vanilla. Fold in the meringue and flour with a spatula in three additions, then fill the batter into a piping bag (round tip) and pipe strips from about 12 cm in length on a prepared baking tray. Dust with icing sugar and bake in the preheated oven at 175°C for about 15-18 minutes.

As you might know, I grow (or rather grew) chilis im my garden. And I made an awesome jelly from them. The hotness depends on what kind of chili you use. The main part in my jelly is from Ancho chilis (1.000-2.000 Scoville). And I added some Manzano chilis, too (12.000-30.000 Scoville). The hotness is enjoyably mild, you can eat the jelly right on a slice of bread. But it goes perfect with some cheese, ham or cold roast beef,too.

This chocolate cake is by far the best chocolate cake I have ever eaten. And His Cakeness loves it, too. That's why he nearly always asks me to make him one for his birthday. The cake is marvelously chocolaty and not too sweet. You can eat two slices and don't end uo with a chocolate- and sugar shock.

The recipe is from Yves Thuriès, a famous french chocolatier, who revealed it to me in a weak hour. Of course that is rubbish! He made sarah Wiener bake it on her culinary trip through France and I had to make it when I saw that on Arte. This must have been in 2009, and since then I am always asked to make that cake again.

Generally I cling to the recipe. I just don't use the chocolate sauce and the strawberries. And I don't soak the layers with sirup. But I follow all the other instructions. And it works perfect every time. Because I am a little bit lazy, you can find the german recipe here.

Chocolate shortcrust:Make a dough from all ingredients in the food processor. Roll into a disc with 24 centimeters in diameter and bake in the preheated oven at 160 °C about 18 minutes.Chocolate sponge:Beat the eggs and sugar until light and white, then fold in the sifted flour, baking powder and cocoa. Bake at 170 °C for about 30-35 minutes, let the sponge cool completely and cut it into two layers.Vanilla-chocolate-mousse:Cut the vanilla bean in half and scrape the seeds. Add everything to the milk and heavy cream and let it steep. Beat egg yolks and sugar and make a crème anglaise. Pour the crème over the chopped couverture. Stir well, then let it cool a little while. Fold the whipped cream in and use it immediately to assemble the cake.Cocoa jelly: Bring water, heavy cream and sugar to a boil. Add the cocoa and cook for 3 minutes. Add the gelatin and pass it through a sieve into another bowl. Let it cool.

Assemble the cake: Place the shortcrust in a cake ring, then pour some of the mousse on top. Add one layer of the sponge and cover it with mousse. Add the next layer and pour the remaining mousse on top. Smooth the surface and let it rest in the fridge for at least an hour. Remove the cake ring and cover the cake with the cocoa jelly.

I make the cocoa jelly before making the mousse. And I let it cool on the counter, then it has the right consistency to cover the cake. It gets too firm in the fridge. If you like, you can put some decoration on top of the cake.